The inflatable escape slide and the pressure vessel along with its regulating valve system is stored adjacent to an egress door of an aircraft in a deflated condition. When necessary to evacuate the passengers and the crew members as quickly as possible, the deflated slide is deployed outwardly from the aircraft. As the slide is extended outwardly from the egress door, a lanyard is actuated to permit the escape slide to be pressurized from a pressurized pressure vessel or container and its regulatory valve.
The pressurized vessel or container and its valve system for safety reasons, must be constructed such that when inadvertently or by some accident such vessel is dropped, that the valves may sustain extensive damage without precipitating hazardous discharge of the stored gas. Under ordinary circumstance the rupture of the body of the regulating valves would cause an uncontrolled release of the pressurized gas or fluid and would cause the pressurized container to become self-propelled, thus putting any personnel or equipment close thereto in great danger. The escaping gases could propel the container or pressurized vessel at an alarming high velocity. One of the devices used to prevent these mishaps is a cage that encloses and protects the regulating valves. The cage prevents the separation of the valves from the pressurized container upon impact or inadvertent damage. The use of the cage adds extra weight to the escape slide system and since this is an aerospace application, the addition of weight is undesirable and should be avoided. In addition, the cage adds considerable volume to the system thus requiring the aircraft manufacturer to allot additional space on the aircraft for the auxiliary equipment. Further, the cage requires additional machining and welding which adds cost to the system.
The present invention eliminates the need for a cage and designs the valves with two portions: an upper portion that projects out of the container, a lower portion that is located within the body portion of the container that contains the high pressure fluid, and an integral safety valve that upon rupture of or any breaking of the upper portions of the valves will prevent the contents of the pressurized container from rapid escape or uncontrolled release. Such valves are lightweight in construction, compact, reliable and maintain a cost advantage over present structures.